Warning: Graphic content
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A sexual assault trial started Monday for a New Hampshire man whose arrest more than seven years ago kicked off one of the biggest youth detention scandals in U.S. history.
Former youth counsellor Jeffrey Buskey, 60, of Litchfield, faces allegations involving four boys held at the Youth Development Center in Manchester in the late 1990s. In the first of his cases to go to trial, he is charged with 21 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault involving David Meehan, who was 14 when he arrived at the facility now called the Sununu Youth Services Center in 1995.
Meehan filed the first of more than 1,100 lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades. His allegations led to the arrest of Buskey and another former worker in 2019, an unprecedented criminal investigation, nine additional arrests, and the establishment of a settlement fund to compensate victims.
As testimony got underway Monday, prosecutor Audriana Mekula asked Meehan, “What is YDC to you?”
“Hell,” he answered.
During his civil trial, Meehan described Buskey’s transformation from trusted father figure to horrific abuser, testifying that he gave him soda and snacks and let him play basketball with a local high school team before subjecting him to near-daily rapes.
“It went from being somebody I trusted, that I thought was not just there to help me, but somebody I thought cared for me, to hurt,” he said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan has done. A jury awarded him US$38 million in May 2024, though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce the amount to $475,000.
In his opening statement Monday, Associate Attorney General Thomas Velardi told jurors that Meehan had intended to take his experiences to the grave but finally told his wife in 2017 when he feared one of their sons might get sent to the facility.
“What you’re going to hear is a true horror story of what a 16-year-old boy was put through,” he told jurors. “The very thought of his own flesh and blood being sent to this same place where he was terrorized finally broke the seal for him on keeping this secret.”
He said Buskey used violence and the threat of it to overpower or coerce Meehan, who he said eventually stopped fighting back.
“It just became a way of life, whether he was fighting or he was just trying to survive,” he said.
In a police interview transcript recently filed in court, Buskey couldn’t remember his home address from the 1990s and struggled to spell his then-fiancée’s last name, but brought up Meehan’s name unprompted. He denied abusing him, saying they had a “great relationship.”
“I was always nice to the kid, I was always trying to help him,” he said.
In her opening statement, defecse attorney Delia McCarthy told jurors there is no evidence to corroborate Meehan’s allegations. Meehan’s room was in a central hallway in a building that was “like an echo chamber,” she said, making it impossible that he could have been violently assaulted without anyone else noticing.
McCarthy also said the trial will highlight inconsistencies in Meehan’s claims. He has suffered from mental illness since childhood and as an adult, experienced delusions and hallucinations, she said.
“This is an unbelievable story, contradicted by the records and the people who were there and told by an unreliable, deeply troubled storyteller,” she said.
The youth centre, which once housed upward of 100 children but now typically serves fewer than a dozen, is named for former governor John H. Sununu. Lawmakers have approved closing the facility, which now only houses those accused or convicted of the most serious violent crimes, and replacing it with a much smaller building in a new location.
In the other criminal cases, three men have been convicted: Bradley Asbury, Stanley Watson and James Woodlock. Jurors acquitted Jonathan Brand and deadlocked in the case of Victor Malavet, leading to a mistrial. Charges were dropped against Trevor Middleton; Frank Davis was declared incompetent to stand trial, and Gordon Searles died while awaiting trial. Stephen Murphy, who has pending charges, had one trial end in mistrial and another end with an acquittal on three charges and a hung jury on five others. Lucien Poulette is awaiting trial.
Holly Ramer, The Associated Press
If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
- Call 911 if you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety.
- The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres’ website has a comprehensive list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling.
- The Ending Violence Association of Canada’s website has links to helplines, support services and locations across Canada that offer sexual assault kits.
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis lines: +1 866 925 4419 or +1 800 721 0066 (24/7)
- Toronto Rape Crisis Centre crisis line: +1 416 597 8808 (24/7)
- Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: +1 833 900 1010 (24/7)
- Trans Lifeline: +1 877 330 6366
- Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988 (24/7)
- Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre for current and former Canadian Armed Forces members: +1 844 750 1648
- Read about your rights as a victim on the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime website.
